Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,444 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth about $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.0 %

KMB opened at $138.42 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $138.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.